3.2 Use of apostrophe

Apart from soft sign (ь), Ukrainians have another special sign – apostrophe. It is used before letters я, ю, є and ї. It shows that the previous consonant is ‘hard’ and the next letter (я, ю, є and ї) indicates two sounds: consonant [y] like in English word York and a vowel а, у, е, і.

Activity 5

Timing: 15 minutes

1. Read, listen and repeat.

Ря – рʼя, рю – рʼю, бя – бʼя, бє – бʼє, пю – пʼю, пя – пʼя, ві – вʼї, вя – вʼя, мя – мʼя, мі – мʼї, фя – фʼя, фє – фʼє.

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Transcript: Audio 34

Ря – рʼя, рю – рʼю, бя – бʼя, бє – бʼє, пю – пʼю, пя – пʼя, ві – вʼї, вя – вʼя, мя – мʼя, мі – мʼї, фя – фʼя, фє – фʼє.

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Audio 34

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2. Try reading these words independently, then listen to the audio and repeat.

1) Маріанна – Марʼяна, Дарія – Дарʼя.

2) пюре – компʼютер; свято – здоровʼя; вечеря – Дарʼя; рюкзак – курʼєр.

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Transcript: Audio 35

1) Маріанна – Марʼяна, Дарія – Дарʼя.

2) пюре – компʼютер; свято – здоровʼя; вечеря – Дарʼя; рюкзак – курʼєр.

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Audio 35

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Well done, if you managed to read most of these words independently!

3. Try reading these words independently, then listen to the audio and repeat.

Пʼять, мʼясо, імʼя, сімʼя, здоровʼя.

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Transcript: Audio 36

Try reading these words independently, then listen to the audio and repeat.

P-yat, m-yaso, im-ya, sim-ya, zdorov-ya.

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Audio 36

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Well done, if you managed to read most of these words independently!